Ride Registry
RIDE DETAIL
NORTHERN EXPOSURE 2000 -- Anchorage, AK to Anchorage, AK, June, 2000|
Total Miles: 1000
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Load: Panniers
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Rider: John Ludway; 45 years old, teacher, Member United States Email
Summary: Ollie Olson encouraged me to ride around Alaska. I spent a month (mid June/July) riding 1000 miles from Anchorage to Seward to Anchorage to Denali to Fairbanks to Valdez and back to Anchorage.; Self-Planned
Health Issues: Recovering for three days from road rash and waiting to pick up my bike with a re-built rear wheel. Difficulty with sleep because of the all-night sun.
Motivation: Ollie Olson (world cyclist) and having ridden Going to the Sun and Icefields Parkway the previous summer.
Most Challenging Aspect:Changeable weather (esp. at Denali), mosquitoes! and the numbing distances (e.g. Anchorage to Fairbanks, 360 mi.; Delta Junction to Valdez, 268 mi.).
Favorite Experience: Climbing Mt. Marathon in Seward. Camping at Wonder Lake, Denali. Seeing a very large moose from 40 feet away. Meeting wonderful people. Driving 24 hours up the Haul Road (with 9 others)to the Brooks Range and back. Meeting (and being hosted) by a fellow Clevelander in Anchorage (after being hit).
Least Favorite: Being hit by an SUV in Anchorage. A tiring 70 mi. ride to get to Palmer and a hotel there. Not bringing enough food with me to Denali (but gratefully accepting the generosity of others).
Tips: There's a lot of long distances in Alaska. There are few picnic tables/posts to lean a loaded bike along the roadway. Only 5 paved highways in Alaska; Anchorage/Seward/Denali/Fairbanks/Valdez/Anchorage was a good route. The mosquitoes are serious business. There are hostels in the larger cities.
Date Entered: Apr, 2018
Photo by Dennis Coello
